Pholklore Phriday on Saturday

The woman sitting across from in the coffee shop is watching cartoons on her laptop. Why can't I be satisfied just watching cartoons. Instead I delve into the depths and pits of the internetted community oyster-diving for these pearls.

• Google alerts sometimes throws me some material that is older - but interesting nonetheless. Questia has a preview of an article about Joe Magarac. It's behind a paywall - but if you subscribe it's worth a read.
• BCLEAR - that's the Bloomfield College Library Electronic Academic Resource, to those not in the know - has a link to the manuscript collection from the WPA. C'mon Obama, where's our WPA?
• In addition to outlawing cigarettes, the good people of the country of Bhutan is doing it's best to preserve oral lore.
• Not having spent much time in lady's rooms, I appreciate this study of latrinalia at Reed & Oberlin.
• The Director of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival - Diana Parker - is retiring. Congrats on a great job!

Folklorin' On a Wednesday Afternoon

Fueled by coffee and an unrequited love for folklore, I find myself again sitting in a coffee shop in Worcester culling the Internet for interesting folklore tidbits to share with you.

• A Veteran's Group from St. Louis is employing recently returned vets to work with archeological artifacts that would have otherwise been collecting dust in boxes. I hope this program receives continued funding in the future.
• Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Huddie Ledbetter!
• There once was a feral man who lived in Haverhill.
• What is America's favorite singing folklorist up to these days?
• Addicted to Jersey Shore? I refuse to watch - I grew up around self-professed 'guidos' and 'guidettes.' Fordham University press has a list of book recommendations tailored to act as the antidote to Snooki and The Situation's poison, including a book on Italian-American vernacular culture.
• There is a bounty of folk films available for streaming at Folkstreams. Amazing and overwhelming. Just watched a great short film about Cajun fishermen who catch catfish with their bare hands. Date movie!
• The writer may hate the word, but an interesting post about how a word has traveled from African folklore into American sports cliche: the story of mojo.
• Ice dancing is awful, just awful.
• The Russian duo Velena specialize in what they call ethnotronic music: incorporating elements from both folk and electronic.

Another Week, Another Roundup of the Foklore-a-verse

Between holding down a real job and keeping abreast of the late-night wars, I am only able to devote a few hours a week to reading about folklore. Here are the updates of what has come across my browser this week:

• Alex Prior - the precocious teenage conductor of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra - has more than a passing interest in American and Slavic folklore.
• Alan Jabbour - folklorist and fiddler!
• Songs and folk art about Dock Ellis - Pirates pitcher who once threw a no-hitter while tripping his balls off on LSD.
• Indigenous Studies Portal Research Tool has many folklore links.
• A pair of articles that argue for the influence of African-American folklore on hip-hop; to continue how about some more articles on how hip-hop is folklore.
• Great blogpost by Dusk in Autumn about the lack of contemporary kissing games among the youths of America.
• The wit and witticism of Alan Dundes.
• Speaking of Alan Dundes - there are a bunch of YouTubes of the professor! Here's him talking about folk history.
• The Folklore Society is seeking help in transcribing The Ordish Archive.
• Folk Computing! This article makes me happy.
• This page needs some cleaning up, but here is an article on folklore at the Smithsonian.
• I have no idea what this is from, but it is endlessly intriguing.
• Oh, this is right up the alley of some people I know!
• Editor's preface to the collection of Indian tales "A Flowering Tree."
• The Anthropology Song - a funny song about coming out as an anthropologist. We are all deeply in love with Malinowski!
• Karen Chace, whose blog that I am now following, has a post about storytelling on the Intranets.
• A Russian folklorist has gotten himself into some trouble with J.K. Rowling's lawyer for his book "Tanya Grotter and the Magic Doublebass."
• Birds in Russian folklore.
• A shout-out to Perk!
• What is it with White Supremacists and slavic folklore?

World Wide Web of Folklore

Another roundup of interesting Folklore posts from around the intertubes:

• First time author's workshop announced for the next AFS meeting.
• A number of colleges are offering classes on The Simpsons. Woo Hoo!
• Did you know that the Trix Rabbit was originally modelled after Disney's interpretation of B'rer Rabbit? Thanks to the fine folks at The Wren's Nest, you do now!
• Collaborative article on Helium about What is Folklore?
• January 8th was the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, which gave us the wonderful song by Johnny Horton. Walter Russell Mead has an article about the battle's importance to American Culture.
• Somebody posted the Kathy Neustadt article "The Folkloristics of Licking," not sure how legal this copy is and how long it will be up there. Never stumbled across this article before, but glad that I did.
• Iceland Review has an interview with folklorist Terry Gunnell.
• My advisor - the wonderful Natalie Kononenko - has an article in SEEJ about the history of Slavic Folklore studies in America. The article is from a few years ago, but for some reason my aggregator just picked it up today. A must-read.

First Folklore Friday of the Year!

Actually, it's the second. But I was in no shape for folklore last Friday.

• The New England Folklore Blog has an article about the regional food item Anadama Bread, and a picture.
• Ukrainian-American scholar Ihor Sevcenko has passed away. Among other achievements he was responsible for the first Ukrainian translation of Orwell's Animal Farm. His impressive obituary can be found at that rag the New York Times.
• The Chinese Folklore Forum has posted a transcript of Alan Dundes's 2004 AFS Presidential Plenary Address. Like almost all Dundes, it is obligatory reading.
• Lumberjack Blues posts about the Wisconsin beast, the Hodag.
• Yesterday was the 119th Anniversary of the birth of Zora Neal Hurston! You go Zora!
• Through Jason Baird Jackson's indispensable blog - a large repository of open-source journals for the study of Indian folklore.

New Year and New Folklore Books!

Happy New Year, everybody! Here are some of the new books coming out this month for your folklore pleasure:

• Tales of the Samurai: Stories of Old Japan - Roald Knutsen.
• God's Gateway: Identity and Meaning in a Hindu Pilgrimage Place - James Lochtefeld.
• Framing the Jina: Narratives of Icons and Idols in Jain History - John Cort.
• Alexander the Great: Myth, Genesis and Sexuality - Daniel Ogden.
• The Idea of Iambos - Andrea Rotstein.
• The Problem of Ritual Efficacy - edited by William Sax, Johannes Quack and Jan Weinhold. Part of the Oxford Ritual Studies Series.
• Encyclopedia of Black Folklore and Humor - Henry D. Spalding.
• Mysteries and Legends of Georgia: True Stories of the Unsolved and Unexplained - Don Rhodes.
• Mysteries and Legends of Nevada: True Stories of the Unsolved and Unexplained - Don Rhodes.
• Oregon Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities and Other Offbeat Stuff - Harriet Baskas.
• Aphrodite - Monica S. Cyrino. Part of the series Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World.
• Japanese Mythology: Hermeneutics on Scripture - Junichi Isomae. From the series Religion in Culture: Studies in Social Contest & Construction.
• The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Vol. 14: Folklife - Glenn Hinson & William Ferris (eds.)
• Spectacle and Sacrifice: The Ritual Foundations of Village Life in North China - David Johnson. Harvard East Asian Monographs.
• Power and Marginality in the Abraham Narrative - Hemchand Gossai. Princeton Theological Monograph.